Ingham County Treasurer Eric Schertzing released an internal poll today showing him within striking distance of Republican Mike Bishop. Schertzing is down just 5 points, 42-37, in a poll with a 4.9 point margin of error. In the same poll, when respondents were read “a balanced series of positive messages about both candidates”, the two are tied at 43-43.

This is a race that deserves more attention than it’s getting (which is why I’ll be posting an interview with Schertzing next week.)

NEW POLLS CONFIRM WHAT WE ALREADY KNOW: SNYDER vs. SCHAUER IS A NAIL BITER, TERRI LYNN LAND IS TOAST
A new poll out by PPP (one of the more reputable polling groups) shows that Gary Peters is maintaining his lead over Terri Lynn “Take away health insurance from hundreds of thousands of Michiganders” Land, this time crushing her by 7 points (margin of error 3.4%.) In the same poll, Schauer and Snyder remain in a statistical dead heat with Snyder up by a scant 2 points.

Magellan Strategies also released poll numbers on our U.S. Senate race. In their poll, Peters is up by 5 points (margin of error 3.66%.) Most interesting to me is how far Land is underwater in her favorable/unfavorable ratings and with whom. Her unfavorables are 8 points higher than her favorables with all voters. With women, it’s an astonishing 14-point deficit. I guess that “REALLY?” ad really tanked with women. And I do mean really.

Meanwhile, Terri Lynn Land is touting a new Rasmussen poll that has her down by only 2 points, inside the 4-point margin of error. They’ve also comically moved the race from “Leans Democrat” back to a “Toss-Up.”

Yeah,right.

This poll is very much an outlier which isn’t at all surprising since it is, after all, Rassmussen. But, if it makes her happy, we’ll give her this one. We have all those dozens of others to enjoy.

GARY PETERS RELEASES NEW POSITIVE AD WHERE HIS WHOLE DANGED FAMILY ARE TOTALLY ‘DORBS

“Frugal”. Best political ad of the season, so far. Just watch it:

DGA RELEASES NEW AD ATTACKING RICK SNYDER FOR RAISING TAXES ON SENIORS
The Democratic Governors Association is back up with another new ad attacking Rick Snyder’s record. In this one, Jeanette Pizzo of Lansing narrates a letter saying that it’s not fair that Snyder raised her taxes while his relatives and cronies benefit from his benevolence:

Dear Governor Snyder, You said you wouldn’t raise taxes on our retirement. But you did anyway. We were counting on that income.

You raised seniors’ property taxes, too.

But you gave your administration officials huge pay raises. And your own cousin got millions in state furniture contracts.

I just wanted to say … that doesn’t seem very fair to me.

Sincerely,
Jeanette Pizzo
Lansing, Michigan.

In conjunction with the ad, the DGA has also started a new website called WriteToRickSnyder.com where “other middle-class Michiganders like Jeanette [can] share their stories about how they’ve been left out and left behind by a Republican governor who always looks out for the wealthiest instead of them.”

DGA Communications Director Danny Kanner explains the site:

Governor Snyder lied to seniors by raising their retirement and property taxes all to give his administration’s officials pay increases. That may work for Snyder’s pals and the well-connected, but it sure doesn’t for Michigan seniors who have worked hard for their income. Mark Schauer believes we need to reverse the Snyder retirement tax and build a Michigan economy that works for the middle class, not just those at the very top.

GOVERNOR SNYDER FINALLY AGREES TO A MODERATED TOWN HALL-STYLE DEBATE
Hallelujah! It looks like we’re going to have both a gubernatorial AND a Senate debate, after all. Just a few days after Terri Lynn Land, who has been cramming Sarah Palin-style, announced that she has finally gotten around to agreeing to debate Gary Peters, Rick Snyder jumped on the bandwagon, too!

Republican Gov. Rick Snyder and Democratic challenger Mark Schauer will face off in a forum on live on TV in advance of the Nov. 4 election under a “town hall” format, Detroit Public Television announced Monday.

The Oct. 12 forum in Detroit will be held in front of a live audience of “undecided” voters identified by pollsters for the Free Press and The Detroit News.

Stephen Henderson, the editorial page editor of the Free Press, and Nolan Finley, the editorial page editor of The Detroit News, are to moderate the one-hour event. The site of the 6 p.m. town hall, which is to feature a relatively unrestricted format, has yet to be determined.

Schauer wants more than one, of course but he may have to take what he can get. Rick Snyder may SAY he’s “tough” but, when push comes to shove, he’s terrified, probably because he won’t be able to digitally manipulate his voice to sound lower than it really is like he has in his latest ads.

MITT ROMNEY TO STUMP FOR MICHIGAN REPUBLICANS

Failed Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has already been to Michigan this year to endorse David Trott (twice.) He’s coming back again on October 2nd for what the Michigan Republican Party is calling the “CoMitt to the Comeback Rally”.

No, seriously. I’m not joking. They’re really calling it that.

The rally will feature appearances by MRP Chair Bobby “Gov. William Milliken is irrelevant” Schostak and Terri Lynn “I contributed $3 million to my own campaign” Land along with “the Rest of Our Comeback Team!”:

Well, ALMOST the “rest of their Comeback Team”. Rick Snyder won’t be there.

Wait. Maybe he’s not actually on their “Comeback Team”? See, guys? I TOLD you so.

National Democrats insisted for months that they thought businessman Dave Trott (R) would be vulnerable if he beat quixotic Rep. Kerry Bentivolio (R-Mich.) in a primary because of his background as a foreclosure specialist, but few took them seriously.

After Trott did just that that, a poll from the Democratic nominee, former State Department official Bobby McKenzie, showed the race within the margin of error. Democrats also have more than $1 million reserved in the Detroit media market that could be used to make a late charge.

They also point out that Kerry Bentovolio is considering running as a write-in which could definitely put McKenzie in the lead. If you’re a religious person, this is one of those times when a bit of prayer to encourage Bentivolio wouldn’t hurt if your deity isn’t too busy determining who will win this weekend’s college football match up.

Author: EclectablogChris Savage is the owner and publisher of Eclectablog, your one-stop shop for progressive state & national political news & commentary.

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Michigan Governor Rick Snyder has admitted to knowing about the poisoning of Flint's drinking water with lead. Despite this, there are STILL Flint residents who cannot drink their tap water without the use of a water filter.

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Mitchell Robinson is associate professor and chair of music education at Michigan State University. His research is focused on music education and education policy. Follow him on Facebook HERE and Twitter at @mrobmsu. His own blog is at MitchellRobinson.net.

Tawana “Honeycomb” Petty is a mother, social justice organizer, youth advocate, poet and author. She was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan and is intricately involved in water rights, digital justice and visionary organizing work in Detroit. You can learn more about Tawana "Honeycomb" Petty by visiting honeycombthepoet.com. She's on Twitter at @CombsThePoet.